to walk through the long row of rooms. Consequently Napoleon used to
walk in front of her, one hand holding his hat, while the other rested
on the door of her sedan-chair, talking in the liveliest way with
his witty enemy. General de Ségur, like every one else, noticed the
hostility which the Empress in vain tried to conceal. "The Empress of
Austria," he says, "whose parents had been dispossessed by Napoleon in
Italy, was noticeable for her aversion which she vainly essayed to
hide; it made itself at once manifest to Napoleon, and he met it with a
smiling face; but she made use of her intelligence and charm to win over
hearts and to sow the seeds of hate of him."
In fact, the Empress of Austria was jealous of the Empress of the
French. She distinctly recalled the time when she used to have her
under her control, and she was annoyed to see her former pupil taking
precedence of every queen and empress. She would have liked to be able
to give her advice, as she had done in the past, and to exercise her
authority as step-mother in criticising her; but she did not dare to do
this, and the restraint was not agreeable. The careful observer finds
life in a palace what it is in the house of a humble citizen. As
La Bruyère has said: "At court, as in the town, there are the same
passions, the same pettinesses, the same caprices, the same quarrels in
families and between friends, the same jealousies, the same antipathies:
everywhere there are daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law, husbands and
wives, divorces, ruptures, and ineffectual reconciliations; everywhere
eccentricity, anger, preferences, tattling, and tale-bearing. With good
eyes it is easy to see town life, the Rue Saint Denis transported to
Versailles or Fontainebleau."
Count de Las Cases has said in the Memorial: "One of us ventured to ask
if the Empress of Austria was not the sworn enemy of Marie Louise. It
was nothing else, said the Emperor, than a pretty little court hatred, a
heartfelt detestation, concealed under daily letters, four pages long,
full of affection and endearment. The Empress of Austria was very
attentive to Napoleon and was very coquettish with him, so long as he
was in her presence, but as soon as his back was turned she was busy
with trying to detach Marie Louise from him by the vilest and most
malicious insinuations; she was much annoyed that she could get no power
over him. 'Besides,' said the Emperor, 'she is witty and intelligent
enough to embarrass her husband, who was sure that she cared very little
for him. Her face was agreeable and bright with a charm of its own. She
was like a pretty nun.'"
Napoleon kept busy at Dresden. Men were continually coming and going,
and the Emperor was actively working over the details, political and
military, of the vast expedition he was getting ready. Marie Louise, who
wished to avail herself of his few moments of leisure, scarcely left the
palace, and it was to no purpose that her step-mother, the Empress of
Austria, tried to represent this devotion as something ridiculous.
There was a sort of hidden rivalry between the two Empresses. Napoleon
had had all the crown diamonds brought to Dresden, and Marie Louise
was literally covered by them. General de Ségur says: "She completely
effaced her step-mother by the splendor of her jewels. If Napoleon
demanded less display, she resisted him, even with tears, and the
Emperor yielded the point from affection, fatigue, or distraction. It
has been said that, in spite of her birth, this princess mortified the
pride of the Germans by some thoughtless comparisons between her new and
her former country. Napoleon blamed her for this, but very gently. The
patriotism with which he had inspired her gratified him; he tried to
set matters right by numerous presents." The Empress of Austria was
compelled to conceal her ill-will. She was present almost every morning
when Marie Louise was dressing, ransacked her step-daughter's laces,
ribbons, stuffs, shawls, and jewels, and carried something off almost
every day.
The Emperor Francis pretended not to notice the jealousies of his wife
and his daughter. He spent a good part of every day in walking about the
town, and was somewhat surprised at the enormous amount of work which
his son-in-law did. He sought to gratify the mighty Emperor by telling
him that in the Middle Ages the Bonaparte family had ruled over Treviso;
that he was sure of this, for he had seen the authentic documents that
proved it. Napoleon replied that he took no interest in it, that he
preferred being the Rudolph of Hapsburg of his family. The little
genealogical flattery produced its effect, nevertheless, and Marie
Louise was much pleased by it.
Napoleon was on the point of leaving Dresden, when Frederic William,
King of Prussia, arrived there. A treaty, signed February 24, 1812,
bound this prince to furnish for the next campaign twenty thousand men,
under a Prussian general, but bound to obey the commander of the French
army corps to which they should be assigned. Austria, by a treaty
concluded March 14, had promised to furnish a corps of thirty thousand
men, commanded by an Austrian general, under Napoleon's orders. Prussia
especially suffered under such a condition of things, and the memory of
Jena had never been keener or more distressing. The occupation of
Spandau and Pillau by the French, and the ravages inflicted on the
kingdom by the troops marching towards Russia, had much disturbed and
grieved Frederic William, who imagined that Napoleon meant to dethrone
him. Being very anxious to have early information about the lot that
awaited him, he sent to Dresden M. von Hatzfeld, the great Prussian
nobleman whom Napoleon had wanted to have shot in 1806, and to whom he
had later become much attached, which shows, as Thiers has said, that
it is well to think twice before having any one shot. Through M. von
Hatzfeld the King of Prussia requested an interview with the Emperor in
Berlin. The Emperor made answer that Berlin was not on his road, that
he could not go there, but that he would be glad to see the King in
Dresden.
Frederic William regarded the invitation as a command, and set out
forthwith. He reached the capital May 26, accompanied by Baron von
Hardenberg and Count von Goltz, Ministers of State, Prince von
Witgenstein, High Chamberlain, M. von Jagou, First Equerry, Baron von
Krumsmarck, Prussian Minister to Paris, and was joined the next day,
the 27th, by the Crown Prince. Father and son were very well received.
Napoleon consented to credit Prussia with the supplies taken by the
troops on their march, and promised to enlarge the boundaries of the
kingdom if the war with Russia should be successful. For his part,
the King proposed to the Emperor to take the Crown Prince with him as
aide-de-camp, and introduced him to the other aides, asking them to
treat their new comrade kindly. According to the Memoirs of the Baron de
Bausset, who was present at the Dresden interview, "Everything which has
been written about the coldness of the King of Prussia's reception is
false. He was welcomed, as he had the right to expect, as a powerful
ally, who, by a recent treaty, had just united his troops with those of
France." The young Crown Prince, who was making his first appearance in
the world, attracted general attention by his elegance and distinction.
As to the King, he affected a content of which the curious despatch
given below was the official expression.
Nothing more clearly shows the ascendancy which Napoleon exercised at
this time than this circular addresssed, June 2, 1812, by Count von
Goltz to the diplomatic agent of Prussia: "Sir, it will be interesting
for you to learn with certainty the main incidents of the recent journey
of the King, our Sovereign, to Dresden. Since I had the honor to
accompany His Majesty, I give myself the pleasure of seizing the moment
of my return to inform you about them. On receipt of a letter from His
Majesty, the Emperor Napoleon, brought to the King May 24, by the Count
of Saint Marsan, which contained the most obliging and friendly
invitation to visit that monarch at Dresden, His Majesty resolved to
depart at once; and having set forth very early in the morning of the
25th, he arrived that evening at Grossenhain, whither His Majesty the
King of Saxony had sent Lieutenant von Zeschaud and Colonel von Reisky
to meet him. His entrance into Dresden took place on the 28th, at ten in
the morning. It was desired to make this a formal occasion, but His
Majesty deemed it better to decline the profound honors. Nevertheless,
a squadron of the mounted body-guard had awaited His Majesty at a good
quarter of a league from the city, and accompanied him to the palace of
Prince Antony, a part of the castle in which His Majesty is lodged, amid
a countless throng of spectators, who with one accord gave the King the
most marked tokens of their respectful devotion.
"His Majesty was received at the foot of the staircase, and in the most
flattering way, by His Majesty the King of Saxony, accompanied by all
his court, his ministers, and the most distinguished citizens. After a
brief interview in the King's apartment, His Majesty having announced
his visit to the two Emperors, they paid him the friendly attention of
announcing their own. The Emperor Napoleon was the first to arrive, and
the two monarchs, having embraced, had at once an interview which lasted
more than half an hour. The Emperor of Austria then arrived, and greeted
His Majesty in the most considerate and friendly manner."
The Prussian Minister, expressing the most unbounded satisfaction,
abounded with praise of the courtesy and kindness of Napoleon. He
concluded his circular despatch thus: "I am obliged to abstain from
going into further details with regard to our Sovereign's reception, and
the subsequent interviews, as well as the court ceremonies and festivals
of this day and the two following; but what I can and must add as an
eye-witness, is, that in general there could have been nothing more
considerate and more friendly than this reception, as well on the part
of His Majesty the Emperor Napoleon, as on that of Their Majesties the
Emperor of Austria and the King of Saxony and their August families,
and that the King has been much gratified by it. The friendship and the
personal confidence of these monarchs and the reciprocal conviction of
the sincerity of their feelings have affirmed themselves in the most
solid way; and especially, the close bonds uniting our Sovereign with
that of France have acquired a new character of cordiality and strength.
I have to add that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who reached
Dresden on the 27th, has equally received the suffrages of the
Sovereigns there assembled, and that the Emperor Napoleon greeted him
with affectionate cordiality." Count von Goltz was evidently anxious
that all this should be bruited abroad. The last sentence of the
despatch ran thus, "Although these details are primarily intended for
you, Sir, you are obviously free to make such use of them as you may see
fit." Possibly this sentence meant that when these details might not be
agreeable, that is to say, to the friends of Russia or England, it might
not be well to communicate them.
In fact, not a single Prussian had forgotten Jena; there was not one
who did not yearn for revenge. King Frederic William, who had at first
resolved to withdraw to Silesia, in order not to be in Potsdam under
the cannon of Spandau, or in Berlin under the authority of a French
governor, consented to return to his usual quarters. Although his
minister, Count von Goltz, had represented him as "perfectly satisfied
with the precious days he had spent at Dresden, and deeply touched by
the repeated proofs of friendship, esteem, and attachment that he had
received," this sovereign, though he bowed to the exigencies of the
hour, waited only for a favorable moment to reappear in the front ranks
of his conqueror's foes. In 1816 Napoleon thus judged him: "The King
of Prussia, as a man, is loyal, kind, and honest, but in his political
capacity he is naturally ruled by necessity; so long as you have the
strength, you are his master."
People of intelligence who were with Napoleon in Dresden were not
deceived about the real feelings of Germany and nearly all its rulers.
"The wisest of us," says General de Ségur, "were alarmed; they said,
though not aloud, that one must think one's self something supernatural
to destroy and displace everything in this way without fear of being
caught in the general overthrow. They saw monarchs leaving Napoleon's
palace, with their eyes and hearts full of the bitterest resentment.
They imagined that they heard them at night pouring forth to their
trusty ministers the agony which filled their souls. Everything
intensified their grief. The crowd through which they had to make their
way, in order to reach the door of their proud conqueror, was a source
of distress; for all, even their own people, seemed to be false to them.
When his happiness was proclaimed, their misfortunes were insulted. They
had collected at Dresden to make Napoleon's triumph more brilliant, for
it was he who triumphed. Every cry of admiration for him was one of
reproach to them, his exaltation was their abasement, his victories were
their defeats! They thus fed their bitterness, and every day hatred sank
deeper into their hearts."
The Duke of Bassano, at that time Minister of Foreign Affairs, was
unwilling to perceive this latent hostility, which was carefully
concealed under protestations of devotion. He wrote, May 27, 1812, to
Count Otto, French Ambassador at Vienna: "Their Royal and Imperial
Majesties will probably leave Dresden day after to-morrow. Their stay
in this city has been marked by reciprocal proofs of the most perfect
intelligence and the greatest intimacy. Now the two Emperors know and
appreciate each other. The embarrassment and timidity of the Emperor
of Austria have left him in face of Napoleon's frankness and simple
character. Long conversations have taken place between the two monarchs.
All the interests of Austria have been discussed, and I believe the
Emperor Francis will have received from his journey a fuller confidence
in the feelings of the Emperor Napoleon towards him, as well as a large
crop of good counsels." With all his optimism, the Minister of Foreign
Affairs was compelled to notice the secret feelings of the Empress of
Austria. After saying in his despatch to Count Otto that the Emperor
Francis had been able to see with his own eyes how happy Marie Louise
was, he went on: "This sight, so agreeable to a father, has produced on
another August person more surprise than emotion. However, if the
real feelings are not changed, there will be at least a perceptible
amelioration, since the illusions inspired and fed by a coterie will
have disappeared." The Duke ended his despatch by these words of praise
for the Crown Prince of Prussia: "The King of Prussia arrived here day
before yesterday. He was followed yesterday by the Crown Prince, who is
making his entrance into the world. He comports himself with prudence
and grace."
The Dresden festivities were drawing to a close. Not only the Germans,
even the French, were growing weary of them. "I pass over the ceremonies
of etiquette," says the Baron de Bausset, who took part in these
so-called rejoicings; "they are the same at every court. Great dinners,
great balls, great illuminations, always standing, even at the eternal
concerts, a few drives, long waitings in long drawing-rooms; always
serious, always attentive, always busy in defending one's powers
or one's pretensions, ... that is to what these envied, longed-for
pleasures amount." All this machinery of alleged distractions concealed
serious anxieties and the keenest uneasiness.
Napoleon had desired that the Dresden interview should preserve a
pacific appearance. Possibly he had for a moment hoped that the Czar,
on seeing the force assembled about the Emperor of the French, King of
Italy, and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, the ally of
Prussia and Austria, would accept whatever conditions so great a
potentate might offer, and abandon the struggle before it was begun. The
military element was kept in the background. Court dresses were more
numerous in Dresden than uniforms. Napoleon assumed the appearance of
a sovereign rather than of a general. Murat and King Jerome were
despatched to their courts. But every one knew perfectly well that the
storm was gathering. One would have said that the first cannon fired in
that tremendous campaign--the Russian campaign--were going to
disturb and then to extinguish the sound of trumpets and bands. The
entertainments were on the surface; the war was in the depths.
It was a terrible, lamentable war towards which the hero of so many
battles was plunging with a lowered head, as if drawn into the abyss by
a deadly fascination. Sometimes, amid the fumes of power and pride, some
mysterious voice warned him of his peril; but he would reassure himself
by recalling his former victories and thinking of his star. As General
de Ségur has said: "It seemed as if in his doubts of the future, he
buried himself in the past, and that he felt it necessary to arm himself
against a great peril with all his most glorious recollections. Then,
as he has since done, he felt the need of forming illusions about the
alleged weakness of his rival. As he made ready for this great invasion,
he hesitated to regard the result as certain; for he no longer was
conscious of his infallibility, nor had that military assurance which
the force and fire of youth give, nor had he that conviction of success
which makes it sure." There had been no lack of warnings. Those of his
advisers who knew Russia well, such as the Count of Ségur and the Duke
of Vicenza, ambassadors at Saint Petersburg, one under the King, the
other under the Empire, had said to him: "Everything will be against
you in this war. The Russians will have their patriotism and love of
independence, all public and private interests, including the secret
wishes of our allies. We shall have for us, against so many obstacles,
nothing but glory alone, even without the cupidity which the terrible
poverty of those regions cannot tempt." General Rapp, who was in command
at Dantzic, had thought it his duty to inform Marshal Davoust of the
alarming symptoms which he had discovered among the German populace:
"If the French army suffers a single defeat, there will be one vast
insurrection from the Rhine to the Niemen." Davoust forwarded this
information to Napoleon with this single indorsement: "I remember, Sire,
in fact, that in 1809, had it not been for Your Majesty's miracles at
Regensburg, our situation in Germany would have been very difficult,"
The Emperor listened to no one. He did not suspect that the King of
Prussia, seemingly his ally, had sent word secretly to the Czar: "Strike
no blow at Napoleon. Draw the French into the heart of Russia; let
fatigue and famine do the work." Meanwhile the sun was drying the roads;
the grass was beginning to grow. Nature was preparing the earth for the
common extermination of its people. And, oddly enough, at the moment
when the slaughter was about to begin, Napoleon had no feeling of hate
or wrath towards his adversary, the Russian monarch. He was of the
opinion that a war between sovereigns, that is to say, between brothers
by divine right, could in no way affect their friendship. He had
written, April 25, 1812, to the Emperor Alexander: "Your Majesty will
permit me to assure you, that if fate shall render this war between us
inevitable, it cannot alter the feelings with which Your Majesty has
inspired me; they are secure from all vicissitude and all change."
Napoleon rightly spoke of fate; for was it not that which lured him,
by its irresistible power, towards the icy steppes where his power and
glory sank beneath the snow? If at times a swift and sombre anticipation
of evil crowned his mind, what was that presentiment by the side of the
terrible reality? What would the conqueror have said if, in the misty
future, he had seen anything of his own fate? Among the courtiers
of every nationality who were gathering around the great Emperor at
Dresden, there was an Austrian general, half a military man, half a
diplomatist, but not a striking figure in any way. One evening the
Empress Marie Louise, on her way to the theatrical performance, spoke a
few empty words to him, merely because she happened to meet him. He was
the Count of Neipperg. How astonished Napoleon would have been if any
one had told him that one day this unknown officer would succeed him as
the husband of Marie Louise. The young Empress would have been equally
amazed if any one had prophesied so strange a thing. Of these two
personages, then so brilliant, the all-powerful Emperor and the radiant
Empress, one was in a few years to be a prisoner at Saint Helena; the
other was to be the morganatic wife of an Austrian general.
XXVIII.
PRAGUE.
May 29, 1812, at three o'clock in the morning, Napoleon left Dresden
to put himself at the head of his armies. He kissed Marie Louise most
warmly, and she seemed sorely distressed at parting from him. The 30th,
at two in the morning, he reached Glogan, in Silesia, whence he started
at five to enter Poland. The Emperor of Austria passed the whole of the
29th with his daughter, trying to console her for Napoleon's departure,
and he left Dresden that evening. He was going to Prague, where she was
to rejoin him in a few days, and he was meaning to put the last touches
to the preparations of the reception he designed for her. Marie Louise
looked forward with pleasure to passing a few weeks at Prague with her
family; and the Austrian ruler, for his part, acted both as a kind
father and an astute statesman in offering to his daughter attentions
and tokens of deference by which his son-in-law could not fail to be
flattered.
After the departure of her husband and her father, Marie Louise remained
still five days in the capital of Saxony, profiting by them to visit the
wonderful museum, the castle of Pilnitz, and the fortress of Königstein,
on the banks of the Elbe, upon a steep rock. June 4, in the early
morning, she left Dresden accompanied by her uncle, the Grand Duke
of Würzburg. The royal family and the Saxon court escorted the young
Empress to her carriage, and she set forth amid the roar of cannon and
the pealing of all the bells. Her journey was one long ovation. The
Saxon cuirassiers escorted her to the Austrian frontier; there she found
waiting to receive her Count Kolowrat, Grand Burgrave of Bohemia, and
Prince Clary, the Emperor Francis's Chamberlain. A detachment of light
horse of the Klenau regiment took the place of the Saxon cuirassiers. At
midday Marie Louise arrived at Töplitz; there she rested two hours; then
they drove in the magnificent palace gardens of Prince Clary, into which
the populace had been admitted. Then she visited the suburbs, the park
of Turn, Schlossberg. Everywhere there were triumphal arches, bands
of music, girls presenting flowers. In the evening the whole town of
Töplitz was illuminated. The miners assembled before the palace in which
the Empress was staying, to sing one of their songs, each verse of which
ended with a cheer and a swinging of their lanterns.